When I was young, I was bit by the travel bug. Since then, I’ve been extremely fortunate to have the ability to not only travel to numerous countries around the world, but also live in foreign countries. These posts include stories about my travels, cultural differences and travel tips.
Earlier this year I started using this really neat app called One Second Everyday. Basically, it allows you to pick a second of a video or picture of everyday and then you can export them into a longer video. I thought this was super cool and so I’ve been trying to do this throughout the year, similar to my sentence a day for last year. Here’s a video summary of March!
Thailand is loud and part of that is the music that is seemingly always blasting from somewhere. One of the most popular songs right now is ขอใจเธอแลกเบอร์โทร (Koh Jai Tur Lak Bur Toh) by Yinglee. The song tells the story of a woman who sees a man she’s interested in, but because of culture, she can’t approach him. Here’s the music video with English subtitles.
The Thai Youth Theatre Festival was so much fun and I’m so proud of it! One of the activities we planned was a giant dance party for the 140 kids. It was a blast! Check it out!
For the past few months, Thai politics have been in a bit of a turmoil. It started with protests, that escalated into the prime minister stepping down and dissolving the government. The protests continued, demanding reforms before any election. There was an election last month, however it had some issues. Things have continued to be somewhat unstable and there are a lot of unanswered questions about the political future of Thailand. Here’s a run down. more “Post Election Political Instability in Thailand”
In Thailand, a bpai tiao is a trip of any length. I’ve written about some of my more significant bpai tiaos to tourist destinations here, to be used as travel ideas and tips.
My last post was about festivals here in Thailand that I do not want to miss over this next year here, and I left one out. But that is because I tried to go to it this last weekend. Every year, at Wat Bang Phra in Nakhon Pathom, a couple hours outside of Bangkok, there is the Sak Yant Tattoo Festival. more “Bpai Tiao: Sak Yant Tattoo Festival in Nakhon Pathom”
Earlier this year I started using this really neat app called One Second Everyday. Basically, it allows you to pick a second of a video or picture of everyday and then you can export them into a longer video. I thought this was super cool and so I’ve been trying to do this throughout the year, similar to my sentence a day for last year. Here’s a video summary of February!
Now that I’ve been here for a year, I kind of have a grasp on what some of the big celebrations Thailand has and I’ve heard of some smaller, local festivals. So much Thai culture is steeped throughout the year and released all at once in these annual festivals, from celebrations of victorious battles to honoring spirits and ghosts, from taking pride in local ruins and historical sites to making merit and honoring the water spirits, there is likely a celebration of some kind just around the corner. Here are the ones that I am most looking forward to going to this year.
I think it’s tokay mating season right now. Tokay geckos (Gekko gekko, Latin name) are the second largest gecko species in the world. They are nocturnal and range from India and Nepal to across Southeast Asia. All of the ones that I’ve seen have been blue with reddish spots all over their body, and all of them have been a minimum of six inches long, but mostly longer. They have a very distinct mating call, which starts of with short, rapid-fire croaks and then goes into “TOK-ay, TOK-ay, TOK-ay.” I’ve been hearing this call so much lately, which is what lead me to believe it is mating season. more “When Tokay Geckos Take Up Residence”
In honor of Peace Corps Week this year, the team at headquarters in Washington is holding a video contest. The theme is “What I Wish Americans Knew.” My friend and fellow volunteer, Susan, created a really great video. Check it out!
Last year, when I came to Kaengsanamnang to visit before moving here permanently, my co-teacher took me to the opening ceremony of the Ya Mo Festival in Bua Yai, one district over from mine and where she grew up with her family.
I remember being really intrigued by it all: wanting to watch the reenactment show, visit all of the stalls, taking pictures of all of the dancers and parade floats. I was a little confused by it all and my senses were overloaded. We ate som dtam and I had kanom jin (a kind of rice noodles) for the first time, and discovered that I like som dtam but not kanom jin. more “Bua Yai’s Ya Mo Festival: Importance of Relationships”